Monthly Archives: January 2013

OH MY GOSH IT’S BEEN SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it’s been so long since I have updated. I’m so sorry, fans and friends. It’s been a crazy few weeks!! I have been running around working super crazy hours, driving 600 miles in 36 hours, and baking way more than one should ever bake in a condensed period of time. Sleep has become a second priority, this blog third.

So what does that mean? Where does it put us? Well, for starters, I’ll use this weekend to catch you up on my last alphabet adventure (yes I did complete it, I just didn’t get to blog about it) Then I will try to get my life in order so that you won’t have to wait two weeks to hear from me again. I promise, I will try!!! 🙂

I hope you clicked PLAY on the youtube video above. I don’t post these for my own kicks and giggles (yes I do) I post them so you can set the proper blog-reading ambiance. You can’t read the blog without setting that first. So…Nick, Howie, Brian, Keven, and A.J., sing us out boys. (sidebar: I was definitely an Nsync fan back in the day…but this song was just so fitting, and Nsync doesn’t have one that compares. Maybe on Friday night I’ll post that it’s Friday night and I ju-ju-ju-ju-just got paid!!!!!!!!)

In the very beginning of this blog, I stated that the simple mission of this year-long adventure was to grow as a person, do things I’ve never done before, making something of myself. For the past 6 months I’ve been doing exactly that, and having a blast. But when I sat down to create this adventure, I purposely put one item on the list that I wouldn’t want to do, just to make myself really step out of my comfort zone. Next week, we’re going to tackle some organizing.

I’m not an organized person in a lot of ways. I am that girl every morning who is fluttering around my house from room to room saying, “Where are my car keys now?!?” While my books are alphabetized and my clothes color coordinated, my books are stacked everywhere and my clothes are probably everywhere except in my closet. My baking items are haphazardly shoved in a catch-all drawer in my kitchen, and all those dumb trinkets we all collect over the years from one event or another are shoved in any nook and cranny I can find. I mean well, I am just completely unorganized.

Since this blog is about growing, I figured the best way for me to grow would be to work on organizing my life a little more. Papers, clothes, books, you name it, I’m sure every aspect of my life could use some shaking up and changing. I can save, toss, store, or wear the items, it doesn’t matter, but my eventual goal is to hopefully leave my apartment more organized than before.

It’s a small apartment but a big task. I have clothes from high school still hanging in my closet. Books from bargain warehouses that I’m not sure I ever read. Party favors from a St. Patrick’s Day party I never actually threw. Man, this is a daunting task. I’m determined to press on, though. Grab some trash bags, some bins, and organize my life. Keep, donate, throw out. Get paperwork in order, find homes for everything and say, “Oh, I was looking for that!” at least a half dozen times.

If you’re free next weekend and would like to help, I’ll provide food and endless entertainment. If not, look for the updates on here next weekend.

Is today not the most wonderful day in the world outside? Sunny, 68 degrees, in JANUARY!?!?! Why’s Al Gore complaining about this global warming thing again? It’s fantastic!!!

Have a wonderful week! I’m gonna make some dinner and settle down for some Downton Abbey. Oooooooohhhhhhh yeah!!!

Before we get to the meat of this post, let’s take a small moment to post this once and for all…HOCKEY IS FINALLY BACK! Big happy sigh. Penguins, come home, we miss you.

The lock out’s been awful, especially considering how well Pittsburgh’s other sports teams have performed this year. Oh you Pirates, you heart-wrenching awful Pirates. And the Steelers…well, that was an embarrassing season. But today, today hockey is back. And for a brief moment, the world seems just a little better.

I’m not going to get on my soapbox about how the NHL “owes” me something, and I won’t be watching games anymore. Let’s be honest, I’m annoyed and frustrated with the NHL owners, executives, and players. I think both sides have acted incredibly selfish for several long months, and it hurt the fans most of all. But will I be watching the first game in a few weeks? You betcha. Because deep down, all I want is to watch my beloved sport again. And watch Letang’s hair flow behind him as he skates the puck into the neutral zone. And watch Sidney raise that Cup again. Is that too much to ask for?

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Today’s post is (sadly) not about hockey. Today’s post is about my favorite city in the world, Pittsburgh, and all the fun I’ve had in it this weekend.

As I told you in my previous post, this weekend’s adventure was about acting like those love-to-hate-’em tourist. I wanted to get out, see the sites, have a bite to eat, paint the town red, and generally just have a good time. Were lives going to change over this weekend, probably not. Was I planning on having a good time, you better believe it.

So my old roommate Kara and I headed down to Oakland for the morning. For those out-of-city blog readers, Oakland’s the area of Pittsburgh that houses the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and all of the Carnegie museums. It’s a fun neighborhood to walk around, and while I have definitely explored the area before, I wanted to give it a closer look.

It was bitter cold on Saturday, and since all colleges are still on winter break it was also eerily quiet as well. Without thousands of college kids streaming everywhere, the place seemed very ghost-town esque, if the middle of a major metropolitan area can ever feel like that. We warmed up with coffee to help us brave the bitter winds, and set out to explore.

First we headed over to the Carnegie museums as they prepared to open. Personally, even though I’m a history major, I’m not a huge fan of the Carnegie museums. I can appreciate the culture and relevance they bring to the city, the chance for education and exploration, but I’m a sucker for the Heinz History Center. It will always beat out the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in my opinion. We did get to pose with some dinosaurs, though, which is something most people can’t cross off their bucket list 🙂

Afterwards we headed over to Pitt and the Cathedral of Learning. It is the iconic building on Pitt’s campus, and though I’ve driven and walked by it dozens of times before, I had never been inside. Luckily for me, I finally had the chance to head inside and tour the building.

The architecture inside is breathtaking, full of beautiful stonework, Gothic archways, and hand cut stone stairs. It is straight out of a scene from Harry Potter, and a little part of me wanted to shout “Protego!” as I wound my way through the grand hall on the first floor. If we had been alone, I might have, but there was a high school mock trial competition in session, and it might have seemed a little weird…some day, though, I’ll make it happen. Maybe I’ll add it to my ever-growing bucket list.

The cool thing about the COL is they have these “Room of Nations” all over the first few floors, and it’s almost like Pittsburgh’s own EPCOT. Each classroom is set up and designed to reflect a different world culture, and each room was created to educate citizens about the different cultures in the world. I will admit, there’s definitely less Mickey apparel in these rooms than in EPCOT, but once you get pas that the rooms are pretty fascinating.

Seeing a new part of the city was definitely a great way to spend my Saturday. Unfortunately the weather made staying outside for too long pretty much close to impossible, but we had fun exploring the museum and Pitt, and even got to see some amazing college tours full of apprehensive high school seniors. Man I do not miss those days.

For now, I’m going to enjoy my Sunday off and catch up on some TV shows. Seriously, what a great day. Hockey’s back. Downton Abby’s back. And my laundry is finally done. Is this not an awesome weekend or what?

I hope your Sunday is going as well as mine!! Have a wonderful week my friends.

It’s 2013. Wow. Children being born this year will not graduate high school until 2031. Doesn’t that make you want to curl up in a ball somewhere? When did we get so old??

Initech is dragging me down this week, I’m sad to say. Everyone has the flu at work, I think it’s only a matter of time until I do too. My coworkers think I’m crabby now, just wait until they see me super sick too. 😦

The being said, my.alphabet.adventure is on standby this weekend, while I see how my health shapes up. If it’s possible I’d still love to go, but there’s no way I’m going to risk infecting other people, or delaying my recovery, just for a blog. I love you guys, but not that much!!!

So consider this weekend a “maybe”. If I don’t get out, it will probably be rescheduled for the following weekend, Initech allowing, of course 🙂 Lord knows my job is more important than anything else I could ever hope to do in my life!!